To Come First

by J C Rae

  "Well then," he says, "let's get something to eat and then we will get to snooping!"

  ◆◆◆

  "Well, that was a bust!" he sighed as he sat back. We found listings online for his Uncle but no contact information. He is associated with one company but when Matt called them, they very rudely told him he had the wrong number.

  "When's the last time you talked to your Uncle? Or even saw him? There's got to be some way to get in touch with him."

  Matt thought about that and then his face brightened. He turned back to the computer and started typing away. I just sat back and let him go. If I had family, I would sure as hell try to find them and nothing would stand in my way.

  "My Uncle didn't have any kids but he did have a sister and a nephew. If only I could find them. Where is it? Where is it? There! I found them."

  He clicked on a couple links and came to an address and phone number, then looked up to me, smiling. "Let's hope this works." he says as he dials. His smile starts to dim but he starts talking, "Hi, my name is Matt and I'm calling for my Uncle Carl Kincaid. I believe you are his sister and I'm hoping you can pass him a message. Tell him that we have had a family emergency and I really need to talk to him. He can call me back on this number." With that he hangs up the phone and sighs.

  I want to reassure him that he will find his Uncle but who am I kidding, I'm not the most positive person around. Instead, I shoot him a smile and stand up. "Let's get out of here. There's not much more we can do today and the assholes will expect me to have dinner ready when they get home."

  He follows me out the door and we head to the house. I get dinner started while he heads up to his room. I hope he hears something back but I'm not holding my breath. This is going to be a long week.

  Chapter 8

  The week slowly went by as Matt and I continued looking for his Uncle, training the kids, and dealing with Glen and Jane. At first, they tried to get Matt to join in on their treatment of me. They started slowly spewing their hatred while he was around and by the end of the week everything was back to normal. The yelling and hitting that I was used to was definitely not normal to Matt and he made sure he told everyone that. Glen really didn't like that and sent us both to our rooms without dinner. But not before backhanding Matt and knocking him to the floor. I swear it sounded like Matt growled when he did that but then he just climbed to his feet and walked up the stairs.

  I stayed in my room for the rest of the evening and most of the following day. I won't say that I didn't enjoy Matt sticking up to them but I really didn't like seeing him get hit. We have become closer over the last week and he's my family now. We both agreed that we would be leaving together, whether it was with his Uncle or on our own. I'm not sure exactly what we are going to do but I know that we won't be staying her much longer.

  I'm snapped out of my head when I hear the yelling. Damn, I'm not sure what's going on but I'm sure as hell going to find out. If Matt's in trouble, I will be there to help him.

  I slowly ease open my door and step out in the hallway. The yelling is coming from downstairs and it sounds like it's mostly Glen. I don't hear anyone else talking so he may just be on the phone. I barely hear the creak of the floorboards from behind me before I feel someone standing there. Flinching, I turn around, expecting the worst. However, it's just Matt. Gosh, I really need to relax more. He's probably just wondering what's going on, like me.

  We share a look as we both creep closer to the steps. The house is quiet now and I'm not sure where everyone else is. Quietly I whisper, "I'm gonna sneak down there and see what's going on. I'll be right back."

  Before I can even take a step, Matt grabs my arm and shakes his head. "You're not going down there alone. We are a pack and we will be sticking together."

  I'm not sure what he means by pack but I know he's not going to let me go by myself so together we sneak down the stairs. I don't see anyone in the living room so I turn towards the kitchen. As I'm turning, I see a flash out of the corner of my eye and hear Matt yelling at me to look out, but it's too late.

  I feel something hit me in the head and down I go. Damn, if I didn't have my shield up, I would've been toast. I'm still feeling rattled but I'm okay. However, as I go to look up, I have to do a double take. Matt is standing in front of me growling and shaking. This time, there's no mistaking the growl because it's loud. Glen is standing right in front of him holding a 2x4 and grinning. "You little punk. You think I'm scared of you! We brought you into our home and treated you like family. And this is how you repay us! If you want to leave so bad, I'll help you out the door. The only problem is that you won't be breathing when that happens."

  I just look at Glen like he's crazy. "You can't do that! The state will come after you if he doesn't check in and you know it."

  Once again, Glen has that crazed look in his eyes but I'm surprised to hear Jane speak up. "You think we are scared of the state? It's not like they know about either one of you anyways. Cindy was very careful when she brought you both here. She made sure that there's no record of it. The only thing the state knows is that you both were reported as runaways."

  Time seems to stand still as I stare at her. She can't be telling the truth, right?

  All these years, no one knows I've been here? What about the police and the school? I just don't understand how they've pulled this off. I'm snapped out of it by a growl so loud that it rattles my bones. What the hell? Matt is standing in front of me one minute and then the next a huge golden brown wolf stands in his place!

  Glen drops the 2x4 as he falls on his ass and Jane screams and trips over him. I cannot believe what I'm seeing. I call out his name and the gigantic wolf turns his head in my direction. I can see the intelligence in his eyes as he watches to see what I'm gonna do. For a second I think maybe I've gone insane but then I quickly push that thought back.

  "Do you know who I am?" I whisper but he seems to hear me as he gives me a wolfy nod. What the hell? Oh well, I guess we can just go with it for now and hopefully I don't get eaten.

  I look back over at Glen and Jane who are still gaping from the floor. Glen slowly stands up and backs away. This causes Matt to turn back and start growling again. It all happens so quickly that I'm not sure who moves first but Glen turns around to run while Matt jumps on top of him. His claws sink deep into his back and he cries out. I can see the blood spray as they fall to the floor. Glen is struggling to knock the wolf off but it's not working. In one smooth movement, Matt clamps his jaws around Glen's neck and twists. The crack is loud and is shortly followed by a loud wailing sound.

  Up to that point I had forgotten about Jane but I can't now. That awful scream is coming from her as she stands off to the side, staring at her husband, with a shiny silver gun in her hands. She shaking so bad that I don't know how she's still standing but the look on her face is absolute rage.

  "You will die for that wolf!" She screams and I see her point the gun directly at Matt. I know that I have to do something and at this point, I don't care if Matt knows my secrets. Quickly, I wrap him in a shield for protection as the gun goes off. The bang so loud that I cover my ears. I recover as fast as I can and kick the gun out of her hands. She turns towards me and lunges. I have never been as happy as I am right now for all the training I've done because she is not letting up.

  She gets a good punch to my head in but with my shield, I barely feel it. I punch her twice in the face and then swing out a roundhouse kick to the side of her head which makes her go down. Once she's down, I jump on top of her and rain punches down on her face as hard as I can.

  Quickly, I jump up and run to Matt's side to make sure that he's okay and my shield held. I see blood but it doesn't look like it's his. He cocks his head to the side and I swear that he smiles at me to let me know he's okay.

  "I'm so glad the shield held. I can't believe she shot at you! Glen's dead and you turn into a wolf. What the hell is going on?" I yell out in one breath. His huff basically tells me that he's amused. "Don't you h
uff at me, wolfman. What are we gonna do? You need to change back so you can answer me."

  He turns away from me and lunges so quickly that I almost fall over again. While I've been yelling, it seems like Jane took her chance to go for the gun. Matt gets to her right as she's in reach and he doesn't even hesitate to grab her throat and shake his head. This time she's facing us so I can see first the shock and then the hazy cloud as the life leaves her eyes. He drops her from his muzzle and turns back to me.

  "What, you think I knew she would wake up so quickly! It's not like I do this every day. Anyways, I have us both shielded so it's not like she could've done much."

  He huffs and shakes his head at me. You would think she'd be more grateful but no, always gotta complain. I guess I'd better change back before she really freaks out. Wonder what she'd do if I change back right in front of her? Hmmm...it could be worth the laugh when she freaks out because I'm naked.

  For the second time that day, I fall back to my ass on the floor. Am I hearing things now? I'm compartmentalizing things at this point and the only part I latched onto is the naked part so of course my mouth opens before I can stop it. "Don't you dare change back right there! I don't want to see you naked, asshole. And I swear to all that is holy, if you laugh at me, I will castrate you!" With that, I turn and walk out of the room trying to figure out what we are going to do now.

  Can you hear me right now?

  "Duh, you overgrown dog. Yes, I can hear you. I'm just adding that to my Ash craziness right now." I yell over my shoulder as I continue walking.

  ◆◆◆

  I haven't seen Matt since I walked out of the living room after hearing him in my head. I don't think that I'm going crazy but who knows. I should probably be freaking out more but I've compartmentalized everything for right now. It's only been an hour and I'm not really ready to deal with everything yet.

  I can hear Matt moving around downstairs, so he must've changed back to human. I guess I should go help him clean stuff up and try to figure out what the hell we're going to do. UGH, can I not catch a break?

  When I get downstairs, I'm shocked to see no bodies lying on the floor and most of the mess cleaned up. Matt walks in from the kitchen and looks over at me sheepishly. He whispers, "I'll understand if you're scared of me but please know that you don't have to be. I'm still me when in my wolf form, just a little more growly."

  I look at him for a minute and then slowly breathe out. "I know and I'm not scared of you. I mean, it's not like I'm normal. I can shield myself and other people. I know what it's like to worry about other people accepting you. Honestly, you are the only other person that knows what I can do so I guess we can keep each other's secret."

  He nods silently while staring at the wall and then looks back at me. "Do you have any idea how you shield? I've never heard of anyone else that can do that."

  "No, I don't. It just happened a couple years ago when Glen was attacking me. It used to go in and out without my control but I've learned to handle it. Lots of practice living with those assholes. And lots of scars." I whisper the last part but I know he heard me by the look in his eye.

  "Well, we will be sticking together now so it won't happen again. Now, on to the other thing. How'd you hear me when I was in wolf form? That's supposed to only work with other wolfs."

  "I honestly don't know. That's never happened to me before. To be quite honest, it freaked me the fuck out!"

  He stares intently at me and then I hear him in my head. Can you hear me now?

  I burst out in a laugh so hard that I almost snort. I can't help picturing that commercial for the cell phone company where the guy walks around saying that. He seems to know exactly where my mind went because he starts laughing with me. Oh god, we are quite the pair.

  I don't know where we are going to go from here or what we are going to do but I know that we will figure it out, together. I sigh and rub my eyes. Matt looks over at me like he's going to say something but then someone knocks on the door.

  Chapter 9

  The knocking continues as we both look at each other. Who the hell could that be? I'm trying to figure out what we are going to do when the person starts yelling thru the door. "Matthew Kincaid, I can smell you in there. Open this door right now!"

  I jerk my head towards Matt as he stands there in shock. I'm not sure who this person is but he seems to know him. Matt blinks his eyes slowly and then looks at me. "That sounds like my Uncle."

  With that, he heads to the door. I guess I'm gonna have to trust him and see what happens.

  The door opens to reveal a tall man with salt and pepper hair. He has to be at least 6'5" because I have to crane my neck to see his face from my 5'9". When he sees his nephew, his face lights up with a genuine smile. I can see both the love and the sadness in that smile so I head to the kitchen to give them a minute while I grab drinks. It's weird but I don't feel like we just killed two people. Which reminds me, where the hell did he put them. Oh well, one thing at a time is all I can handle right now. I grab a couple cans of pop and head towards the living room.

  When I walk in, the talking stops and I'm met with the curious green eyes of his Uncle. Even sitting down, he's intimidating but I don't let that bother me. I've lived with monsters for the last couple years so I can handle him. I snort quietly to myself with that thought and pass out the drinks. As I hand his Uncle his, he quickly reaches out and snatches my wrist. The move is so smooth that I don't even flinch and he's not trying to hurt me. Not that he could even if he wanted to since I still haven't dropped my shield from myself.

  He stares into my eyes like he's looking for something specific. I'm not entirely sure what but I'm also not going to lose this challenge. I don't know what's pushing me but I can't seem to look away. His low growl seems to snap me out of our stare off and I gasp.

  "Is he a wolf too?" I practically yell at Matt as I turn to him.

  His Uncle, who I still have no clue what his name is, just stares open mouthed at me. He seems to shake himself out of his stupor and turns a hard glare towards Matt. Oops, maybe I wasn't supposed to mention that part.

  "What exactly have you been telling her, Matty?"

  I don't miss the scared look in Matt's eye as he lowers his eyes to the floor. "It's not what you think Uncle."

  "It better not be. You know the rules, Miss...." he says as he scowls towards me.

  "I'm Ash and you can stop with the mean mugging faces. I won't tell anyone. And he had a very good reason for showing me. Which reminds me," I start, looking over towards Matt, "where did you put Glen and Jane?"

  "They're in the basement right now. I wasn't sure what to do with their bodies. How are you handling this so well?" he says with a great deal of shock.

  "Well, I've been imagining doing that for a while now so I'm actually kind of happy that it finally came true! I definitely won't be shedding a tear for either of them. Even with everything I've already told you, that's just the tip of the iceberg of their cruelty."

  While we are talking, his Uncle is just looking back and forth between us. I'm not sure what to really make of his expression but it looks like a mix of bewildered and angry.

  "What are you talking about?" he asks, rather loudly.

  "Well," I start to say but then realize he still hasn't told me his name. "What's your name and how did you find Matt?"

  He shakes his head slowly and lets out a deep breath. "Well, I guess that's a start. I'm Carl Kincaid, Matt's Uncle as you seem to already know. I've been looking for him since I heard about my brother. That story they tried to feed me about him running away didn't set right with me so I started looking closer. It seems like that particular house, which is now being investigated, has had multiple "runaways" over the last couple years and they all had the same caseworker. Mrs Botch is MIA and we've been trying to find her. Imagine my surprise when I get a call from my sister that she has a message from my nephew from last week. I tried calling the number back but got no answer so I had a friend of mine find
the last place the signal was active and here I am."